In automotive manufacturing, automotive components, such as vehicle instrument panels, may be subjected to heat testing in order to evaluate the ability of the part to withstand heat for a prolonged period of time. A test fixture may be used to support the automotive component during the heat test. One way of fabricating a heat resistant test fixture is to cast a combination of resin and aluminum filler to the underside of a sacrificial part. The test fixture may then be bonded to a steel framework with resin. The sacrificial part may then be separated from the test fixture, leaving a test fixture shaped to support a part identical to the sacrificial part during a heat test. This method of fabricating test fixtures may result in the destruction of the sacrificial part. Moreover, because the test fixture is made from a sacrificial part, the fabrication of the test fixture cannot typically be started until production parts are available. Further, a test fixture fabricated by this method may be heavy because of the resin and aluminum filler. Finally, this method may require a significant amount of time and effort to fabricate.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative test fixtures for automotive parts and methods for fabricating test fixtures for heat testing automotive parts.